It is known to produce chlorine dioxide by reduction of an acid aqueous sodium chlorate solution using methanol, as described in U.S. Pat. No. 2,881,052. The process, however, is quite slow, involves the handling of a large volume of liquid effluent and the efficiency of the process is quite low. More recently there issued U.S. Pat. No. 4,081,520, assigned to the assignee hereof, wherein the problems of the prior process were overcome by the use of a single vessel generator-evaporator-crystallizer. The latter process operates at high efficiency, produces no liquid effluent and has an acceptable production rate.
In U.S. Pat. No. 4,081,520, the minimum total acid normality of operability disclosed is 9 normal, since it had previously been found that total acid normality values below such minimum did not give rise to high efficiency. The experiments which lead to such a conclusion were done on a laboratory scale and involved an evaporation rate of 10 to 20 lb of gas phase (water vapour, chlorine dioxide and chlorine)/hr/sq. ft. of surface area of reaction medium.